Bittersweet: Bleach Snippets
by Andrea Sinisterra
Summary: Collection of drabbles and vignettes. All characters, all ratings.
1. Sakura: ByakuyaHisanaRukia

Title: Sakura  
Characters: Byakuya / Rukia / Hisana  
Prompt: Dreams  
Word count: 342  
Requested by: Mellie

Cold. Everything about him was cold. Ruthlessly, mercilessly cold. He was a god forged in ice, his features frozen in pallid planes, lips thinned to an almost nonexistent line. His eyes lost to the sight of his 'sister' lying unconscious before him.

It was hard. To defy his mind when his heart told him something else. How her eyes resembles dark pools of long ago; how her lips moved in sensual lines, just like the once he used to cherish so many years back. A distant memory, but never faint, nor vanishing. Constant, steady, poignant. Resolute. Vivid and clear. Painful.

How many times had he dreamed of her voice whispering his name, lost to a world of exploding madness, lightheadedness rendering her eyes blank, glazed as they lost themselves in the her pleasure, in her warmth? And how many times had he seen this woman, this woman who lay before him, and tried to tell his heart that she was not her, that they were not the same, and he should never make the mistake of blending them, turning them one, loving them as one and the same, same heart, same soul, yet still remaining heartbroken either way.

Oh, he dreamed. He wished and hoped.

How many long hours had he sat there gazing at her, ignoring his own injuries?… just idolizing her, wishing she were somebody else, wishing he could just break and let her _see him_… Let her into his torture.

No… By then, the sakura trees growing thinner with every stroke of wind, he would have risen from his stoic vigil, ignored her pleading eyes, her moving lips, her questing gaze… her earnest hands. Yes, by then he would have disappeared into a land of ghosts and shells inside his very own being, to try to dispel the monsters that haunted him, the memories that tortured him, the sound of a stardust voice that made his eyes heavy with salt.

They were the same, and then not. He didn't wish to understand. He'd just have to break in two.


	2. Gifts: IchigoRukia

Title: Gifts  
Characters: Ichigo / Rukia  
Prompt: Stuffed toys  
Word count: 87  
Requested by: Hi-chan

"Oi, Ichigo!"

He looks down, a seeping blush overtaking his cheeks. "Just shut up and take it."

Untrustingly, she shakes it just to see…

"It's not gonna talk back, you know?"

She eyes him in a suspicious way, one brow lost in her bangs. "Then, what's it for?"

He glares for a moment, before he snarls, exasperated, blushing, feeling ridiculous. He turns to leave, but she holds him back.

"Thank you." Sincere.

His blush deepens. He snorts. "Whatever." And turns to walk away.

She smiles and follows.


	3. Just For Now: RenRuki

Title: Just For Now  
Characters: Renji / Rukia  
Prompt: Flowers  
Word count: 206  
Requested by: Beck

"And what's this?"

She sighs, exasperated. "A flower, moron."

His jaw clenches at her tone, but he swallows and counts to five. "I know, stupid; what kind of flower?"

She ignores the insult, though it's hard. Her hand clenches at her side. "How should I know?"

Eyes narrowing, he scoffs, trying hard to keep the rising curse at bay. "You are stupid, then." He concludes, his voice mocking, knowing it's going to rile her up.

And he loves to see her like that.

It is as he expects it, her reaction. She punches his arm, hard and methodic; her eyes narrow as she glares at him. "No, you are stupid. You're asking the question in the first place!"

Knowing she hates it, he laughs openly, the loud, obnoxious sound ringing clearly through the evergreen field they sit upon. "It's Rukia."

It's her turn to laugh now. "Rukia? You're just making it up."

"Nah-uh." He tugs on one end of her hair. "It's your favorite flower, so it should bear your name, don't you think?"

She glares as she blushes, but turns around so he won't see. He imagines that when they grow older, he'll learn the flower's true name, but for now, Rukia was just fine.


	4. Lost and Found: HitsuHina

Title: Lost and Found  
Characters: Hitsugaya / Hinamori  
Prompt: Dreams  
Word count: 273  
Requested by: Davan

Hitsugaya Toushiro. She knows the name as she knows her own. When she was younger, she used to dream of places beyond the limits of their world, just the two of them. She would dream she was a helpless princess, and he her knight. But she was too strong to be saved, too reckless to be defenseless, too proud to ask for help.

And so she locked herself away inside the shell of her mind to dream of dancing snowflakes in the summer heat, of aquamarine eyes lost in a blanket of white. She would dream of his voice saying her name, of his eyes calling her soul. She would see her hands encased in his, lost in the vastness of his robes as he engulfs her in his embrace. But they were old dreams, wishes upon lost virtues and lost moments, upon times past when he would be her friend instead of a comrade… It was all lost now.

Fear and helplessness. Lost freedom and tarnished dreams.

Until that one night he came, shining like the beacon of light he is against the contrasting black, to rescue her just like he had done in her dreams of so long ago. That one night, and the next, and the one after then, she lost herself in him, never to be recovered. And she holds his hand as Tobiume whispers in her head, questioning what's next. And he whispers, unknowingly, a vow, simple words falling off teasing lips.

Of course she smiles. She smiles because… Just because. Why should there be a reason?

And then Tobiume's silent, and she can at last be free.


	5. Surrender: ShunsuiNanao

Title: Surrender  
Characters: Nanao / Shunsui  
Prompt: kiss  
Requested by: Ayame

"Ne, gimme a kiss, Nanao-chan... C'mon, just one... One little, little, little kiss... Right... here." Shunsui pats his fish-lips with two fingers, making annoying kissing noises and scrunching his eyes shut.

And Ise Nanao keeps on writing.

Moments later, he taps her knee as he lays on his side on the floor beside her feet, idly fingering the hem of her hakama, not ignoring the glance of the bare ankle he sees with every swipe of his annoying finger.

He yelps when she slaps his hand on her knee away and steps rudely on his wandering fingers.

He resigns himself, but the effect only lasts an hour, and soon he's touching the end of a pencil to the back of her neck, and he relishes the sight of her shiver. Her skin prickles in goosebumps and his fingers ache to smooth the trembling skin.

Instead, he goes ahead this time and touches his lips to the side of her neck.

Nanao just closes her eyes. Shunsui just smiles. And together, they collide.


	6. Sidelines: HitsuHinaMatsu

Title: Sidelines  
Characters: Matsumoto / Hitsugaya / Hinamori  
Genre: Angst  
Standard Disclaimers Apply

I often wonder what do you think when you sit there, so silent it may seem you're absent, gazing unmoving at those stars, as if they hold the answers to every mystery this world possesses. Do you even feel the grass soiling your robes as the wind caresses its blades? Do you even feel the rain drenching your hair as it pebbles around you in small diamonds beads?

What are you thinking? What do you see? Your eyes, an aquamarine hue so beautifully mystic they remind me of ocean glitter, are lost in a world beyond our limits, boundless and invisible to outsiders.

Without a doubt, I wonder many, many things. I often wonder if you wonder about me. Sometimes I believe you see me as your sister, though sometimes you treat me as just a comrade in arms. There are times I'm your friend, and we talk and laugh; yet, there are times you make me feel like I'm so much more. I sometimes believe you're trying to reach out, to come out of that shell you've encased yourself in, as if trying to convey hidden meanings without words, just by looks and touches, though subtle they are. I really do wonder about a lot of things.

The rain is getting heavier with each minute that goes by, the clock ticking away your breaths, your heartbeat and your tears. I know why you like to sit in the rain, why you let it pour down on you. Do you think it can erase your tears? Do you think that by sitting by yourself you're able to hide the fact that you hurt? I wonder why you like to torture yourself like this. I know you suffer, I know you're crying… and I know who you're crying for.

I often wonder why you hold so much affection for that girl. Yes, that same girl who chose another captain over you. Why do you let her? Hinamori… Sometimes I want to walk into that room—why did you insist on staying with her?—and scream and cry at her, wanting to know why she keeps on hurting you, wanting to know how can she stay in that sleep when you're in so much pain.

Even after these many years, you still hold onto the hope that one day that girl will wake up… I know you yearn for it. I know you stay with her because you want to be the first thing she sees when she opens her eyes… Why don't you give up? Why haven't you given up? Why, why do you still cry for her? I certainly don't understand. Well, more like I don't want to understand.

I do wonder what you see, exactly, when you look at those stars. I also wonder how you can see them so clearly when this thick rain is clouding my view… I often wonder if Hyourinmaru has something to do with it. Is Hyourinmaru crying with you? Is he hurting because of you?

You drive me crazy, do you realize that? I believe I've driven myself partially insane with all these musings, with all these thoughts going round and round in my head. I wish I could just show you… show you this. I don't even know where to begin.

Dreams… I can hear you at night when you're alone in your room, moaning as your shadow crashes against the wall. You're always so restless, and I wonder what nightmares keep you from tranquility. Are they the same ghosts that haunt your eyes during the day, coming to collect a bounty the moment you close them at night?

And the truth is… I hurt, too. Watching as you slowly whither away to ice, a beautiful glass figurine, just an empty shell of the beautiful soul you used to be. I know that when the time comes, the rain pouring over you harshly, you will shatter into a million pieces beyond recovery. By then, will you let me near you? Will you let me help you? Push you back up and shove you into motion, gather you into my arms and just…

…hold you. Love you.

Really… maybe I should just stop. You whisper her name over and over, falling like a tortured caress off your lips, caressing your skin as it floats up into the sky… And I close my eyes… because I can't stand seeing you like this, because I don't want to hear you say her name… I wish I could just turn around and walk away… But I often wonder what you'd do if I did just that. I know you know I watch you. And I take pleasure in the fact that you trust me enough to let me see you like this…

I can't let you. I won't. Your raging dragon will not whither. I won't let you. I'm unselfish, and I hate myself for that. But I hate you more for knowing it.

I truly, truly despise loving you. It hurts too much.


End file.
